Thank You Sears/KMart

Sears/KMart was generous enough to give military families a gift this year!  They gave us $100 toward our Christmas stash and we had fun getting a few Christmas items we needed... for free!

Hey Honey...

Can you help me cut my hair?!

Last week when I came home this is what David looked like and that is what he said!  I usually help buzz his head to keep up with regs.  Last week I suggested he try himself.  It didn't turn out so pretty :-)  I laughed so hard and asked him if I could take a quick pic.  Thought you'd get a laugh out of it!

Charlie bit my finger - again !

Cubby dances to Beyonce's Single Ladies Video

If only I had these moves....

Giving Thanks in Vegas!

We had a great time visiting Kelly's cousin & wife in Vegas over Thanksgiving weekend! We tried to fit as much as we could into our short but sweet weekend there. We went hiking/rock scrambling a couple of different times (who would have thought there was good hiking in Vegas). We also spent a night on the Strip. We went to a nice restaurant in the Paris Hotel, and then went to the traditional Cirque du Soleil show (Mystere). The show was really amazing...definitely check it out if you are in Vegas. It was really cool to experience Vegas for a night....that's really all you need, in our opinion. The drive back was adventurous, as we were stranded in Vail due to I-70 closing because of weather. Luckily, we had a free place to stay!

The Show.

The Hosts.

The dogs.

The Views.

Good Friends & Good Views

We have really come to like our new friends Kristin & Dan!  We have hung out with them quite a bit and enjoy a lot of the same things and have fun together.  A few weeks ago we went over to their place to have dinner and play some games (see picture above).   We decided to hike in their back yard the next day (see pictures below)!

We could look down on Glen Erie castle which is part of the Navigators head quarters.  On the top part of the picture you can see part of Garden of the Gods.  This place is beautiful!

On our hike we encountered some Big Horn Sheep... we were really really close.  I guess they are not territorial animals so we tried not to get too freaked out :-)

Here we are on top of the world!

My Job

So Kelly has been bugging me for weeks to blog about what I do at my job. Why? I'm not sure, because if you've seen the tv show JAG or have watched A Few Good Men, you know exactly what I do...because my job is just like that.

This last month has definitely been busy. I've been in court 4 times within the last 5 weeks, for a total of 7 long days in the courtroom. It's been great experience....experience I would never get in a law firm until I had been there 6 years. For those who don't know what I do, my job title is Chief of Adverse Actions, Chief of Preventive Law, Chief of Legal Assistance, and acting Chief of Civil Law. It sounds much more impressive than it actually is. Everyday is different, but most of my duties surround kicking people out of the AF. The process of doing a discharge board is very similar to a court-martial. We do our investigation, discovery, research, and then go to the board. If you walked into the boardroom, you wouldn't realize you were in a discharge board and not a court (the only real difference is that there are really relaxed rules of evidence).

My other duties include seeing clients daily for legal assistance....the majority of my clients come in for family law issues or landlord-tenant issues. I also do about 3 wills a week. The civil law side of my job includes a lot of random legal reviews. Every AF base is like a town with a police force (security forces) and a mayor (the wing commander). So, we deal with every type of issue a city would, from revoking people's driving privileges, to dealing with civilian labor law issues and environmental issues.

Once I get comfortable with my job, they'll give me a new one, because that's the way the AF operates. That's about it. Thanks for reading.

Food Supply

For about two weeks this was our refrigerator! We've both been pretty busy and have been eating a lot of canned or frozen foods.

Yesterday we both took the day off to be together! We finally restocked out frig! Wrigley is excited too (I think he just sees the grape bag is open!).

Ten Predictions

So I have to admit, I was upset with Obama winning the election. There are a lot of thoughts that go into my opinion on Obama but that's not really what this blog is about, and I don't really want to get into especially since I have no idea who looks at our blog! I was so encouraged when I walked by a colleage's office with a sign that I thought you too would like. Here's what it said:

Ten Predictions No Matter Who Wins the Election

1. The Bible will still have all the answers.

2. Prayer will still work.

3. The Holy Spirit will still work.

4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.

5. There will still be God annointed preaching.

6. There will still be singing of praise to God.

7. God will still pour out blessings on His people.

8. There will still be room at the cross.

9. Jesus will still love you.

10. Jesus will still save the lost.

Isn't it great to know who's still in control?!

As I reread through them, they are a bit cheesy but still TRUE and I felt more peaceful with the reminder of God's amazing hand over our great nation! Amen.

Did I mention I got frostbite?

While icing my knee from a minor injury, I got frostbite! I honestly only had the icepack on my knee for 20 minutes, that's it! So, you can imagine my shock and surprise when I had this odd bump/white patch on my leg and didn't know what it was! I had to take a picture in case it turned out to be a huge deal.After a day or so this turned into a red mark and itched. I held back from itching and the bump and color from this injury is gone!

Boys Weekends.

Da boys.

A few weeks ago while I was on my wonderful Women at the Cross retreat Chuck & Keith (David's dad & our bro-in-law) came to visit for a boys weekend! They both flew out on Friday and then had to leave on Monday. I think they enjoyed their time here and saw as much of CO as they could during a long weekend. They were able to drive up Pike's Peak, hike, visit Manitou Springs, and relax! The one huge bummer was that David ended up working most of the time they were in town. He had a case on that Monday and was preparing most of the weekend. Here is the one and only picture they took! It is of Keith climbing some rocks during their hike.

PS - David won his case, and the one after that and I'm sure the one coming up this week will have the same outcome!

The following weekend we had another special guest! My brother AJ (Aaron)!!!! We had so much fun having him in town too. We went to an Avalanche hockey game in Denver, we went to down town CS, the boys played frisbee golf, and LOTS of video games! Here's a picture from the hockey game as they both contemplate who to cheer for!
AJ was so excited to meet Wrigley, and vise versa! AJ brought Wrigley a new bone to work on and it was the funniest thing because it was much bigger than anything Wrigs has had before.

And, they had fun together! I love this picture!

Surrendering at the Cross

Well, it's been quite a while since we've updated you! We don't have any neat photos to show you so I will be brief as not to bore you :-)

David's been meaning to fill you on his latest happenings at work. He's been very busy and hopefully later this week he can update you on his lawyering!

This last weekend I was so blessed to go on a women's retreat in the beautiful mountains. I went with a new friend from the AF and we had a really great time learning about who we are in Christ. We learned about how we are broken (just as the perfect image of God is broken in us) and that we are beloved! It was so refreshing to be in a group of women, about 16 of us, and be honest and open about the things in life that keep us from God and from knowing his truths.

Here's the website for the ministry if you'd like to read more!

Welcome to the World Baby!

Jeremy & Polly welcomed baby Aliyah into the world today!

6 lbs. 1 ounce 20 inces

Congrats Mom & Dad, we love you!!

AF vs. Navy

Here's our weekly adventure!  On Saturday we slept in (YESSSS!!!!) and then we headed off to our first AF football game!  It was so much fun.  First we met up with our friends Dan & Kristin and headed off to tailgate with all the JAG's attending the game.  Then we went to see the close game of AF vs. Navy!  In the end the AF lost but it was so enjoyable and here are some pictures to prove it!

Before the game all the cadets from both teams marched onto the field for the national anthem.

Here we are intent on the game!

Dan & Kristin

Everytime the AF team scored a point these cadets would do pushups for those points.

A Stealth Bomber flyover! This was the most exciting!

Two F-22's doing a flyover!

During half time a official trainer of Falcon's came out with the AF Falcon mascot.  The falcon flew over the crowd a few times as they explained how the cadets train the falcons.  Even though we lost, it was a fun day!

Sigur Ros at the Red Rock Amphitheater

On Saturday, Kelly and I went to see Sigur Ros at the Red Rock Amphitheater in Denver. It was a band that we have wanted to see for a long time...at possibly the coolest place to see a concert (it's a natural, outdoor amphitheater...see link for venue). Sigur Ros is from Iceland. They've created their own language (called hopelandic) and their songs are, well, eclectic and interesting. Click here for a link to a music video. I would encourage all who are reading this to check their music out.

The concert was fun, but not my favorite. Its hard to sing to music that doesn't have real lyrics. Plus, the music is more melodramatic, as opposed to music you can dance to, which makes concerts a little less fun. But, we did get to people-watch a bunch of hippies and weed smokers ....so that was fun. Here are a few pics from the show:

The amphitheater from a distance.

Goofing off before the concert.

How I roll...

I love my Black Hills Beauties.

This weekend I took Friday off of work and visited my friends in Rapid City!  It was so much fun to spend time with Polly especially.  On Friday we basically talked all day long and just caught up on life and reconnected.  She is 8 months pregnant so it was very fun to hear about her new little one on the way and see all the fun things she's acquired while waiting!

Here's the only picture I got of her belly.  She is looking so beautiful and feeling healthy and ready for baby Aliyah!

This picture is really funny and we all have double chins but I couldn't exclude it :-))

8 years as friends and God is to thank for that!

Polly & Jeremy and then in the background Polly's parents Chuck & Karla!

We also visited Tica's house (Polly's sister) and played with all 6 of her babies!  I especially enjoyed Wyatt sleeping on me while Lloyd cuddled on the couch and Caleb played with Star Wars figures.  What a fun time and I love my life!

Estes Park

Two weekends ago we visited Estes Park with Dan & Kristin, our new friends!

The picture above is on our way into the park, isn't it beautiful?

The four of us at the trail head.  We hiked about 7.5 miles and saw two beautiful lakes and a waterfall!

The first lake above is Mills Lake

Again, Mills Lake.

I guess the second lake looked about the same so I'm not including any of those photos.

This little day excursion is just one of many reasons we LOVE living in Colorado and why it's such an amazing place.  During the day we went hiking we had to leave Wrigley home alone for a looooong time.  We felt so bad but he actually did great and seemed fine when we got back home.  Since this was more than a week ago I just can't remember anything else worth noting, sorry!

God is good!

Hey All!  We just had a new friend over for a game night and we just really like her and just wanted to say so :-)  Thanks friend.

Last weekend we went on a beautiful retreat southwest of Colorado Springs.  The Chaplain's office sponsored the retreat and paid for all the expenses for anyone from Schriever and their families.  It was a weekend of blessings.  We took the beautiful drive through the mountain range near C.S. and arrive at the camp.  The weekend involved great food, little kids, the outdoors, a little game time, hot tub, sagging beds, beautiful wood lodge, some Mad Gab!, a horseback ride, new friendships, wilderness, climbing wall, bowling and some peace and quiet times.  We are so thankful for the opportunity to get away on a free retreat and know that the Chaplain's office worked hard to put this together for us.

Sadly our camera battery died so we only have a few pictures.  This is the beautiful mountain we could see from the camp called Horn Peek.

Excited for our trail ride

Jeremy & David taking each other on in a pillow fight on a tree trunk?!

Dorothy: There's no place like home, there's no place like home!

We have had a great weekend thus far! On Friday we had the day off together and took the opportunity to hike on the Air Force Academy base. They have beautiful paths and hikes to go on. The path we took went to a reservoir but after hiking two hours I wanted to head back! Wrigley loved every minute and didn't get tired while we were hiking.

Here we are in our AF hats!

Among other events of the weekend we were planning on going to the 32nd annual Balloon Classic. A yearly event where about 65 air balloons all take off near a lake together in the Springs. The event happens every morning during Labor Day weekend and in the evenings they do a balloon glow where they light up a ton of balloons on the ground.
David's boss let his office know her dad flies one of the balloons and we could meet up with them and maybe help with chasing the balloon when they were going to land. We were SO blessed by her dad Jim who actually took us up in the air!!! We were able to be with him in the balloon for about an hour, it was amazing.

Since there are so many balloons they take flight in waves. The first wave gets their balloons blown up and then take off. Sometimes it gets a little crowded!

Here I am helping pull the balloon out as it blows up.

1. Get in the balloon as it's being blown up and take a picture with the two Captains!
Actually Jim (balloon captain!) is retired AF and flew B-66's in Vietnam. He is having a reunion with AF buddies this coming weekend and about 4 of them were in town for this event.

2. You are told you get to ride and you should get in the basket!

Funny thing, we saw the balloon that was flying over our house a few weeks ago in this post! Here it is above.

Here is part of the first wave of balloons getting ready to take flight.

Part of this festival the balloons can touch the lake so as we were touching the lake I took another picture of other balloons getting ready to launch.
The funny looking balloon is actually the Noah's Ark balloon.

We were able to catch the wind just right and touched the water, went very high and went down and touched the water again. The crowd loves it and cheers whenever the baskets dunk in the water! We just had a blast doing this.

From the other direction the balloons go with the wind. There is no way to direct the balloon except for up and down. Landing can be very interesting.

After the flight we tailgated with the crew. There was a ceremony for first-time fliers (us!) where they told us a story of how hot air ballooning started. Then, we were told to get on our knees and drink champagne out of a paper cup without our hands. Well, while we were bending over to get our drinks with our teeth, people behind us poured champagne over our heads!!! It was a fun way to end a great morning.